Sister Marie Yvonne of the Precious Blood was born Diane Elaine Armstrong of John and Adele Armstrong in Los Angeles on October 12, 1940. Diane was the oldest of the nine children of John and Adele Armstrong. She attended Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy and it was there that she answered God's call. Diane entered the congregation of the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose on September 7 of 1958 following her graduation from Flintridge. She received the habit June 13, 1959 and the name Sister Marie Yvonne of the Precious Blood. She made her first profession on June 24, 1960 and final vows June 24, 1966. Sister Marie Yvonne received her BA in Music from Holy Names University and her MA in Music with a major in Organ Performance in 1974, was a music teacher at the Motherhouse from 1962-1963, at St Anthony's, San Francisco from 1963-1965 (an assignment she loved) and at the Motherhouse from 1965 to 1970. She then went to Flintridge, her alma mater, in 1973 until 1990, serving as music teacher and prioress. She tried her hand as classroom teacher for two years at San Gabriel Mission High school before returning to the Motherhouse and to the Queen of the Holy Rosary School of Music from 1992 to 2001 as its principal. It was during this time that she served as First Chantress, a role she relished. It was while at Flintridge that Yvonne found a marvelous music teacher from whom she took regular lessons for several years. This was where she became the master organist, as well as composer. One of her lasting accomplishments was her collaboration in the development of the Dominican Praise. She had many opportunities to travel, but her last traveling was done between 1999 and 2001. During that period she flew several times to the Adrian Dominican Motherhouse in Michigan to work on a Committee in collaboration with Dominican Sisters from some of the other Dominican Congregations. Their goal was to create a new prayer book for Dominican Sisters to use when praying the Liturgy of the Hours. The book eventually came to be called Dominican Praise. (See p. xxiii for the list of contributors—hers is the first name, along with Sisters Renilde Cade and Mary Diane Scott.) In 2001 she was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma which is cancer of the bone marrow. That year she underwent serious back surgery to remove a malignant tumor and one vertebra in her lower back. Two more surgeries followed to clean out infections. After the third surgery the doctors gave her a year or less to live. She lived eight more years, most in excruciating pain until she passed away in 2009.